It is desirable in many control applications to remove sensitive electronics from a harsh environment in which a power semiconductor and a driven load are located. Power semiconductors, for example, are used to control heavy machinery motors, robotics, flight actuators and other devices that are usually located in harsh environments having high temperatures, radiation and vibration. While existing power semiconductors (Thyristors, GTO's, IGBT's, etc.) can tolerate temperatures in excess of 100° C., information processing electronics, such as microprocessors, require a more benign temperature environment in order to properly operate. It is therefore necessary to provide isolation between the harsh environment of the power semiconductors and the benign environment required by the information processing electronics.
One particular application in requiring isolation is in the field of flight controls. Efforts have been made to replace conventional hydraulic control systems with electronic control systems such that electronic commands are sent to actuators through wire connections. These so called “Fly-By-Wire” (FBW) systems provide many advantages over conventional hydraulic control systems, including substantial reductions in vehicle weight and complexity, but can still be susceptible to problems associated with electro magnetic interference (EMI). Accordingly, shielding techniques must be employed to prevent spurious EMI signals, sometimes generated by the control system itself, from causing disruptions in flight control operations.
A Fly-By-Light (FBL) concept proposes a flight vehicle in which the performance of all-sensing and flight control actuation is performed with a DC power distribution system and an optical network to carry all-sensing and control information to and from a centrally located Vehicle Management System (VMS) computer. Such a system would not only be immune to EMI, but would not generate significant EMI itself. In addition, beyond the EMI benefits, substantial weight, volume and cost savings, and enhanced reliability and safety could be realized.
The major technological hurdles in implementation of a FBL system are concentrated at the terminal points of the optical system. The outgoing information carrying optical signal needs to control a function, but most of the control functions involve substantial electrical power, be it the control of a motor, a valve or the control and conditioning of the power itself to, or in electronic systems such as radar or weapons systems. These functions are conventionally performed with power semiconductors that operation in tens of kW power levels. The mere triggering of these devices, however, requires hundreds of Watts.
The general concept of optical isolation is well known, but present optical communication systems transmit power at milli-watts levels. Thus, the transition from the optical world to the electrical world is fundamentally mismatched and is performed in circuitous fashion resulting in expensive and inherently sensitive hardware, namely, optical control of semiconductors is conventional performed only indirectly through an optical to electrical interface which then controls the power semiconductor. Thus, conventional optical communication systems still require low power sensitive components to be present in the harsh environment in order to convert the weak optical signal into an electrical signal strong enough to trigger the power semiconductors. Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a system for optical isolation that includes direct optical control of electrical power semiconductors.